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Mermaids vs LGB Alliance and the Charity of Commission of England and Wales

Action seeking to remove charitable status from the LGB Alliance

Tribunal Tweets

Sep 9, 2022

Status update July 2023

Judgment was delivered on 6 July 2023 and can be read here. Mermaids were not successful in their action against the LGB Alliance and the Charity Commission. The judges decided that the law does not permit Mermaids to challenge the decision made by the Charity Commission to register LGB Alliance as a charity.

Statements from all three parties following the judgment can be read here:

Mermaids statement

LGB Alliance statement

Charity Commission statement

Status update May 2023

It’s 6 months since the last day of the hearing of Mermaids case against the Charity Commission. We are still waiting for the judgment - and do not know when it will be issued.

The decision will go to the parties representatives as an ‘embargoed draft’ to invite checks for typos. If that happens with the decision in this case, any amendments arising might slow the final release by a few days.

The finalised judgment will then be sent direct to the parties to the case, and then the judgment will be published online. Since 2022, decisions for publication from the General Regulatory Chamber, the court which heard the case, are sent to the National Archive web page at https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/structured_search (select the filter option for ‘First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber’). The clerks aim to have judgements available online as soon as possible, subject to any specific judicial directions if applicable. It’s possible that we might get the judgment more quickly direct from one of the parties, Mermaids, the Charity Commission or the LGB Alliance, after final issue.

Background

Mermaids, a charity self described as ‘helping gender-diverse kids, young people and their families since 1995’ , has brought this action to challenge the decision of the The Charity Commission to award LGB Alliance charity status. Mermaids are assisted by the Good Law Project, described on their website as undertaken the crowdfunding for the action. We understand it to be highly unusual for one charity to seek to remove the charitable status of another and we could not find other reported instances of this.

The matter is being heard in the First Tier Tribunal of the General Regulatory Chamber. The hearing is hybrid; conducted in person but with remote access granted for some observers, including Tribunal Tweets. Remote access makes it possible for us to cover the portion of the proceedings that are accessible to the public but it is imperfect. The remote access is a livestream of the hearing from an individual camera and universal microphone. It is sometimes hard to identify who is speaking in this format because many individuals have their backs to the camera; so we apologise in advance for any mistakes we make in this respect.

We have been instructed by the judge to amend any relevant and significant errors that are made. We agreed to do this as promptly with subsequent tweets as we became aware of them. We had no suggested corrections from the parties or from the Tribunal.

Skeleton arguments published with agreement of all parties and the Tribunal.

Charity Commission Full Decision on Charitable Status for LGB Alliance.

Mermaids public statement on appealing against LGB Alliance charitable status

Good Law Project statement

Supporting Notes, Submission, Michael Gibbon KC, for Mermaids

Live tweet threads

The evidence phase of the hearing took place over 5 days in September. Counsels’ closing submissions were heard on 7th and 8th of November.

9 September- primarily procedural matters

12 September morning - Paul Roberts of LBGT Consortium giving evidence, examined by Akua Reindorf.

12 September afternoon - Paul Roberts of LGBT Consortium giving evidence, examined by Akua Reindorf.

13 September morning - John Nicolson, MP giving evidence, examined by primarily Karon Monaghan KC, also Dr. Belinda Bell, chair of trustees of Mermaids, examined by Karon Monoghan

13 September afternoon - Dr. Belinda Bell continuing examined primarily by Karon Monaghan KC. Followed by evidence from Bev Jackson of LGB Alliance with examination by Michael Gibbon KC.

14 September morning - evidence from Bev Jackson of LGBA

14 September afternoon - evidence from Bev Jackson and Kate Harris, examination variously by Karon Monaghan KC and Michael Gibbon KC.

15 September morning - conclusion of evidence from Kate Harris, and evidence from Eileen Gallagher, chair of trustees of LGBA. Examination primarily by Michael Gibbon KC.

15 September afternoon - evidence from Eileen Gallagher, examination primarily by Michael Gibbon KC. Administrative matters.

7 November morning - Submission by Michael Gibbon KC, counsel for Mermaids

7 November afternoon - Submission by Iain Steele KC, Counsel for Charity Commission

8 November morning - Submission by Karon Monaghan KC for LGB Alliance.

Witness statements

Witness statements are published by agreement of the parties and the court on the LGBAlliance website. They will appear only once a witness has begun testimony.

Abbreviations:

J or Judge - Judge Lynn Griffin, Presiding Judge,

AJ - Judge Joe Neville, Assistant to Judge

MG - Michael Gibbon KC, Counsel for Mermaids

KM - Karon Monaghan KC - Counsel for LGB Alliance

AR - Akua Reindorf, Assistant to KM

IS - Iain Steele, Charity Commission counsel

Witnesses

JN - John Nicolson MP, Member of Parliament for Ochil and South Perthshire and Deputy Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights.

BB - Dr Belinda Bell Chair of trustees of Mermaids.

PR - Paul Roberts OBE, CEO of LGBT Consortium

BJ - Beverley Jackson, Co-founder and trustee of LGBAlliance

KH - Kate Harris, Co-founder and trustee of LGB Alliance.

EG - Eileen Gallagher OBE, Chair of trustees of LGB Alliance, having joined in May 2021.

Other frequent abbreviations

WS - witness statement
EA - Equality Act 2010
MM - Mermaids
CC - Charity Commission
LGBA - LGB Alliance

BITWB - ‘born in the wrong body’
TATG - trans away the gay’

Press Coverage

This section includes links to a selection of press coverage about the case. These links are included without comment and are not endorsed by Tribunal Tweets. This is a sample of coverage only, with most recent first - it is not comprehensive. Please DM our main Twitter account to submit coverage from an established news outlet. Any paywalled article must be archived.

9 July 2023

The Observer - There’s no law says a charity can’t hold views you disagree with. Even on gender-identity issues

[VIDEO] Spiked - The triumph of the LGB Alliance

8 July 2023

Scottish Herald - Gay pioneer: ‘It’s depressing a lot of our good work is being trashed’

The Critic - Catching a mermaid

7 July 2023

Daily Mail - Mermaids' trans support group faces 'statutory inquiry' from the Charity Commission after failed legal case to have LGB Alliance stripped of its charitable status

The Critic - Why Mermaids lost

The National - Joanna Cherry: The LGB Alliance case should concern us all

Daily Mail - As the controversial Mermaids body is investigated by the Charity Commission... did raising her own trans child turn former CEO Susie Green into a zealot who put other youngsters' health at risk?

6 July 2023

The Guardian - Trans charity Mermaids fails to have charitable status stripped from LGB Alliance

The Telegraph - Trans group Mermaids loses bid to have gay rights charity shut down

The Scotsman - Transgender rights group Mermaids loses case to have LGB Alliance stripped of charitable status

Evening Standard - Transgender group Mermaids loses challenge over gay rights charity’s status

[VIDEO] GB News Andrew Doyle - First interview with Bev Jackson and Kate Harris after judgment

Daily Mail - Transgender charity Mermaids LOSES bid to strip gay rights organisation LGB Alliance of its charitable status in first case of its kind in the UK

The Times - Trans charity Mermaids loses case against LGB Alliance

BBC - Trans charity Mermaids loses challenge against LGB Alliance

The Spectator - Mermaids’ loss is a victory for a free society

Independent - Charity Commission urges tolerance of opposing views after tribunal ruling

Express and Star - Charity Commission urges tolerance of opposing views after tribunal ruling

Pink News - LGB Alliance retains charity status as Mermaids loses legal challenge

STV - Transgender group loses challenge over gay rights charity’s status

Attitude - Mermaids appeal against LGB Alliance charitable status dismissed

Metro - Charity Commission urges tolerance after Mermaids loses case against LGB Alliance

The Irish News - Charity Commission urges tolerance of opposing views after tribunal ruling

Charity Times - LGB Alliance retains charity status after tribunal rejects legal challenge

Civil Society - Mermaids loses appeal to strip LGB Alliance of charitable status

TFN - Controversial “anti-trans” group retains charity status after legal challenge

Third Sector - Mermaids loses landmark bid to strip gay rights group of charity status

Spiked - Why the LGB Alliance had to win

The Guardian - Mermaids v LGB Alliance: who was involved in tribunal case?

The Telegraph - The LGB Alliance has scored a victory for common sense

Wales Online - Trans children's charity Mermaids loses landmark case against gay rights organisation

[AUDIO] BBC Radio 4: World at One - Kate Harris discusses Mermaids lost legal challenge of LGBA

The Times - Lesbian tribunal win is good news for us all

[VIDEO] GB News - Peter Tatchell on Mermaids losing their legal challenge

On 2nd December 2022, UK's official Government website, Gov UK, announced the Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Mermaids, after identifying concerns about its governance and management. Mermaids released this Statement. More coverage on this as appears can be found here

25th Nov 2022

Mermaids Website - Susie Green leaves Mermaids (more coverage on this can be found here)

On 25th September, The Telegraph printed an exclusive story about Mermaids giving breast binders to children behind parents’ backs which has led to more concerns about the charity, all of which can be found here